Snapchat has taken an almighty dig at rival social media company, Instagram, in their first ever television commercial.
The ad, titled ‘A New Kind of Camera’, will premiere on US TV channel TBS, tonight (April 2) but the company has released it online for everybody to see.
During the advert, you see people taking Snapchats while brushing their teeth, walking the dog, taking family photos – and adding ‘lenses’ over on top. You know, standard Snapchat stuff.
Watch the advert here:
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During the last 10 seconds of the advert, Snapchat emphasises how different it is to its fellow social media platforms and appears to take a bit of a dig at Instagram.
The voiceover on the advert says:
It’s a camera for talking because a Snap says more than a text. So, yeah, Snapchat is a camera, where how you feel matters more than how you look.
Instagram has been slated for being a supposed superficial platform, which critics have claimed shows people with a ‘filtered’ life.
Because on Instagram, you get ‘likes’ for photos, some have deemed it superficial – whereas Snapchat you just send and receive images and video.
According to a study, narcissists tend to follow other narcissists on Instagram apparently.
The study suggests Instagram users who post selfies and ‘groupies’ as more narcissistic than people who post photos taken by others.
Snapchat lost more than half a billion dollars were after Rihanna criticised the platform – rightly so, I have to add.
The app posted a poll which asked users if they would rather ‘Slap Rihanna‘ or ‘Punch Chris Brown’.
The ad was slammed for appearing to joke about Brown’s conviction for assaulting Rihanna in 2009 while the two were dating.
The company responded by saying it ‘never should have appeared on our service.’
Rihanna posted a message to her fans on her Instagram stories, which read:
I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb.
This isn’t about my personal feelings, cause I don’t have much of them… but all the women, children and men that have been victims of DV [domestic violence] in the past and especially the ones who haven’t made it out yet.
You let us down! Shame on you. Throw the whole app-ology away.
A Snap Inc spokesperson said:
This advertisement is disgusting and never should have appeared on our service. We are so sorry we made the terrible mistake of allowing it through our review process.
We are investigating how that happened so that we can make sure it never happens again.
Snapchat’s share price then fell.
Snapchat’s advertising policy states all adverts are subject to their ‘review and approval’ and they reserve the right to reject or remove any ad.
Earlier this year, a reported $1.3 billion was wiped off the value of Snapchat, partially to do with Kylie Jenner being ‘soo over’ it, their advert-centric update, and now this.
According to CNBC, $600 million was wiped from the social media platform’s value as a result of this monumental PR failure.
Snap’s advertising policy is outlined on its website, confirming:
All ads are subject to our review and approval. We reserve the right to reject or remove any ad in our sole discretion for any reason.
We also reserve the right to request modifications to any ad, and to require factual substantiation for any claim made in an ad.
They probably have a lot to build back.
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